062 - Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet

8/8/2019 062 - Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet

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Doctor Who and the Tenth PlanetGerry DavisISBN 0 426 11068 4The Sergeant blinked again. Three lights were moving towards him through the murk of theblizzard. Even as he looked, the lights changed into three tall, straight figures, clad in

silver-armoured suits, advancing across the ice with a slow, deliberate step. Horror-struck,the Sergeant reached for his gun, and a stream of bullets sprayed across the marchingfigures. BUT THEY CONTINUED MARCHING...The CYBERMEN have arrived. The first invasion of Earth by this invincible, fearless raceand the last thrilling adventure of the first DOCTOR WHO.


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CONTENTSThe Creation of the Cybermen1 The Space Tracking Station2 Disaster in Space3 The New Planet4 Mondas!

5 The Cyberman Invasion6 Ben into Action7 Battle in the Projection Room8 Two Hundred and Fifty Spaceships9 Z-Bomb Alert!10 Prepare to Blast Off11 Cybermen in Control12 Resistance in the Radiation Room13 The Destruction of Mondas!


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The Creation of the CybermenCenturies ago by our Earth time, a race of men on the far-distant planet of Telossought immortality. They perfected the art of cyberneticsthe reproduction of machinefunctions in human beings. As bodies became old and diseased, they were replaced

limbby limb, with plastic and steel.Finally, even the human circulation and nervous system were recreated, and brainsreplaced by computers. The first cybermen were born.Their metal limbs gave them the strength of ten men, and their in-built respiratorysystem allowed them to live in the airless vacuum of space. They were immune tocold andheat, and immensely intelligent and resourceful. Their large, silver bodies becamepractically indestructible.

Their main impediment was one that only flesh and blood men would haverecognised: they had no heart, no emotions, no feelings. They lived by the inexorable lawsof pure logic. Love, hate, anger, even fear, were eliminated from their lives when the lastflesh was replaced by plastic.They achieved their immortality at a terrible price. They became dehumanisedmonsters. And, like human monsters down through all the ages of Earth, they becameaware of the lack of love and feeling in their lives and substituted another goalpower!Later, forced to leave Telos, the Cybermen took refuge on the long-lost sisterplanet of Earth... Mondas.


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1 The Space Tracking StationThe long low room housed three separate rows of control consoles and techniciansand resembled Cape Kennedy Tracking Station in miniature. At one end, the interior of aspace capsule had been projected on to a large screen. Two astronauts were seate

d at thecapsule controls.The scene is a familiar enough one to TV watchers but the attentive viewer wouldhave noticed that the Tracking Station's ceiling was a little lower than that ofHouston orCape Kennedy, and that more of the technicians wore uniforms.What he would never have guessedlooking round at the flushed, sweating men,in their singlets and open-necked shirtswas that immediately above the ceiling lay sixfeet of ice, and above that, the blizzard-swept wastes of the snowy Antarctic: the trackingstation, code name Snowcap, was situated almost exactly over the South Pole.

One of the consoles, slightly raised above the others, faced the three rows oftechnicians. Behind it sat the three men responsible for the safe operation of SpaceTracking Station Snowcap: General Cutler, the American soldier in charge of thepredominantly military installation; Dr Barclay, an Australian physicist; and Dyson, anEnglishman and senior engineer of the base.General Cutler, his immaculate uniform neatly buttoned, and wearing a collar andtie, was apparently unaffected by the close atmosphere inside the tracking station. Tall,with close-cropped grey hair, a firm jaw line, small shrewd black eyes and a large, unlit

cigar clamped firmly between his teeth, he easily dominated the other two men.The voice of Wigner, Head of International Space Control, came over theloudspeaker system.'We're now handing Zeus Four to Polar Base. Will you take control, please?'Cutler glanced towards the left-hand console, and received a nod from themonitoring technician. He pulled the desk microphone towards him:'Yeah, we have Zeus Four, thank you, Geneva.'The engineer, Dyson, clicked open his desk mike:'Snowcap to Zeus Four, over to local control channel J for Jack.'On the big screen facing them, one of the two men in the space capsule turned hishead slightly and raised his thumb. His voice came over the loud-speakers:'Over to J for Jacknow.'General Cutler leaned back and removed his cigar for a moment. He smiled.'Good morning, gentlemen, you lucky fellas! Having a good time up there?'The second astronaut, Schultz, turned his head towards the camera. 'Why don'tyou come up and join us, General?'Cutler gestured with his cigar. 'And miss my skiing?'There was a ripple of laughter among the technicians facing Cutler. The Generalliked his little jokes to be appreciated. The two astronauts in the capsule grinned at thecamera. Cutler noddedas if acknowledging the laughterand stuck the cigar backbetween his teeth.'O.K., Barclay,' he said. 'They're all yours.'Dr Barclay turned to Dyson. 'Give Texas tracking the next orbital pattern.'

Dyson nodded and started to operate his desk transmitter. 'Will do.'


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Barclay glanced up at the screen. 'Snowcap to Zeus Four, Zeus Four, how do youread me?'Again, the voice of the astronaut Schultz, sounding unnaturally high-pitched andsqueaky in the weight-less atmosphere, came over the loudspeaker. 'Loud and clear,

Snowcap, loud and clear. Hey, we have a great view of your weather. How is it your end?''Really want to know?' Barclay grinned. 'There's an ice blizzard and a force sixteenwind. Repeat your velocity for ground check, please.'The two astronauts were reclining in the narrow capsule. Immediately above theirheads, a complex row of instruments clicked out a stream of necessary data andinformation as the capsule hurtled round the earth towards its re-entry window.Throughthe two round side ports, the long shaft of sunlight constantly changed positionas the

space craft sped around the globe.Major Schultz, a round-faced cheerful-looking GermanAmerican of about forty,and the older of the two men, turned to his partner. 'Skiing he says!'Williams, a tall, handsome American negro of about thirty, nodded briefly beforeclicking on the communications microphone again. 'Williams. Cosmic ray measurementsare now complete. Are you ready to receive data?'The voice of Dr Barclay came through on the console above Williams' head. 'Yes,go ahead.'Williams glanced over to the computer read-out controls set slightly to the right ofthe capsule panel, and started to relay the measurements. Schultz eased back in

his seatand stretched his legs slightly in one of the approved isometric astronaut's exercises. It hadbeen a good, if uneventful, flight. In another couple of hours the capsule wouldbe sitting inthe blue waters of the Pacific, waiting to be winched aboard the aircraft carrier. And afterthat: the pleasures of hot food, a bath, and a real bed...A pleasant run-of-the-mill mission. For a moment, the veteran astronaut thoughtback to the tougher flights of the past when space flight still entailed unpredictable hazards.The good old days! Perhaps it was all becoming a little too easy!Inside the TARDIS, Ben, the Cockney sailor, was having similar thoughts. The lastthree landings had been uneventfuleven dull. No danger, no excitementmerely alanding on some uninhabited planet, lengthy rambles with the Doctor to collect specimensof plants and rocks, and then off again.Worse still, the Doctor seemed to be ageing rapidly. He was beginning to stoop alittle, and his absent-mindedness had increased to the point where he did not seem torecognise his two companions, frequently addressing them as Ian and Barbara, thenamesof his first two fellow space-travellers.

Just before their most recent landing Ben had turned to Polly and muttered: 'I tellyou, Duchess, if it goes on like this, I'm slinging my hook next port of call. D


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on't mind a bitof agro, but when it comes to sitting around waiting for the Doctor all dayand then himnever telling us what he's doingI've had it!'The two of them were looking up at the television monitor screen which showed thelatest landing place of the TARDIS. It didn't look very promising: white landsca

pe, grey sky,and a thick swirling curtain of snowflakes.'You can't go out in that!' The old Doctor shook his long white hair and tappedhislapel nervously with his long fingersa familiar habit of his. 'It's quite out ofthe question.'Ben was normally a good natured and obedient member of the Doctor's little party.Polly even teased him by saying that he was too ready to jump to attention and salute


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when the Doctor told him to do something. On this occasion, however, Ben stood firm. Hecrossed his arms defiantly. 'If I don't get some shore leave now, I warn you, I'm quitting. Idon't care where we land, or what age it's in. Next time you open those doors, I'm going to

scarper.'The Doctor looked impatiently at Polly, and waited for her reaction. By nature akindman, the Doctor had grown irritable and dictatorial of late. He didn't like to be crossed byone of his companions.'Well,' he said, looking at Polly, 'what about you?'Polly smiled a little nervously: 'If you say we can't go out, then of course wecan't.But it wouldn't do any harm, would it?'The Doctor flung his hands up. 'Any harm!' He looked at the control board. 'Witha

gale force wind and a blizzardplus a mean temperature of thirty below zero ! ' He

glanced up at the screen again. 'I don't even know where we've landed, or in which periodof time.'Ben threw a quick glance at Polly as if to say, 'That's why he's cross. Lost again!'In spite of his age, the Doctor had sharp eyes and seemed almost able to read theirminds. He noticed Ben's glance, interpreted it, and sulkily turned away.'Oh, very well.' He nodded towards the almost inexhaustible equipment room of theTARDIS. 'You'll find some Polar furs in there. You'd better bring some for me. I

suppose Ishall have to go out with you. Ten yards away from the TARDIS in this sort of weather, andyou'd be hopelessly lost.'The Doctor's two young companions ran into the equipment room before hechanged his mind. Within five minutes, clad awkwardly and heavily in fur parkas,leggingsand fur caps with ear flaps, the three adventurers opened the door of the TARDISandstepped out into the snow.The wind had already piled up the snow around the small blue police telephonebox, and Polly began to shiver violently. The extreme cold cut short their breath andburned their lungs; icy particles of snow stung their faces with thousands of tiny pin pricks.Polly and the Doctor made little progress in the face of the driving wind, but Benheaved himself forward, step by step, through the loose drifting snow. Suddenlyheappeared to collapse on his knees.'He's hurt!' shouted Polly, and tried to hurry towards him, the Doctor close behind.But Ben was pointing excitedly to something he had found. Four squat, blackchimneys protruded through a small mound of snow. The three time travellers bentover

them and felt warm air against their cheeks, flowing up from below.'Something's buried under here, Doc.' Ben was shouting against the shriek of the


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Polar wind, his face close to the Doctor's ear. 'What is it?'Before the Doctor could answer, Polly squealed excitedly from the other side ofthechimneys. The long black snout of a periscope, similar to those used on submarines, hadappeared from under the snow !'Look what's here!' she called excitedly. 'A periscope!'

She turned back to peer into the lens of the periscope. 'Do you think there could bea submarine down here?'Meanwhile, the Doctor was thoughtfully scraping the snow from a square hatchwhich he had discovered to one side of the chimneys. Obviously a trap doorbut leadingwhere?


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The thick-set sergeant on duty in the base guardroom below stared in disbelief atthe monitor screen which relayed the picture taken by the periscope's camera. Herubbedhis eyes, shook his head, and looked again. 'Tito. Hey, Tito, come over here will'ya ! '

Against the far wall of the guardroom stood a couple of bunks on which the guardstook it in turn to snatch a few moments' sleep or relaxation. On the lower one,the secondguard, an ItalianAmerican named Tito, was reading a comic.'Yeah, what is it?' He couldn't take his eyes off the adventures of Captain Marvel,who was engaged in a life or death struggle with a marauding party of robots.The American Sergeant was still staring at the screen.'I can see people!'The bored soldiers at the base often played jokes on each other. Tito had heardit

all before.'Sure, sure. Lot's of people, skiing out there.' He turned another page of his comic.'One of them's a girl.'The Italian dropped his comic, swung himself off the bunk, and ran over. The threeother guards, who had been playing poker at a table by the door, dropped their cards andconverged on the small monitor screen.Polly's face filled the screen as she looked into the lens of the periscope.'A real live girl!' Tito grabbed the handles of the periscope and turned it roundslightly.

Outside, the day had brightened and the driving snow eased a little. The assembledmen could just make out the outline of the TARDIS. 'That looks like some kind ofhut!'The Sergeant looked over Tito's shoulder, and came to a decision: 'We'd betterinvestigate.' He turned to the other three men.'Take your small arms.' He jerked his thumb over to the row of sub-machine gunswhich were ranged in a rack by the door. 'Get outside and bring them down here.Now getmoving!'The three men quickly swung into their parkas, zipped them up, snatched a guneach from the rack, and started climbing the exit ladder at the far end of the room.The three time travellers had finished inspecting the periscope. Despite the thickfurs, Polly was trying to keep warm by swinging her arms and stamping her feet in thesnow.'I... th... think my face is getting frostbitten,' she stuttered through chattering teeth.'C... Can't we go back now, Doctor?'As usual, the Doctor's mind was elsewhere. He continued to examine theperiscope. 'Some kind of base, I imagine, set under the ice.'Ben looked at Polly, and then at the Doctor. 'She's had enough, Doc. She wants to

go back inside the TARDIS.''Oh yes, of course. I'm sure we've all had enough...'He swung round to lead the way back to the TARDIS, and stopped abruptly.


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Unnoticed by the three of them the trap door had been opened, and ranged alongside itwere the sinister figures of the three soldiers in hoods and snow goggles. Theirmachineguns were levelled. The leading soldier gestured back towards the open trap doorwith hisweapon.

Polly huddled against Ben. 'What does he want us to do?' she whispered in his ear.'Come quietly, I expect.'


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2 Disaster in Space'Get a move on!' The Sergeant, hands on hips, watched as the three time travellersclimbed awkwardly down the ladder. 'Back against that wall.'The sudden transition from the dark, cold Antarctic ice cap to the brilliantly lighted,

over-heated guard-room was almost too much for Polly. Ben took her arm as she began tosway dizzily.'My dear fellow,' said the Doctor, as he brushed himself down, 'there's really noneed to shout at us.''Easy, nice an' easy!' drawled the American Sergeant as the Doctor removed hisfurs.'I assure you we're not carrying any weapons.' The Doctor spoke irritably. 'We arenever armed.''Yeah? Well, just who are you?'

The other guards now entered and slammed the trap door shut behind them. Theystared incredulously as the three travellers slowly pulled off their cumbersomefurgarments, and whistled when they caught sight of Polly's long slender legs.O.K.,' said the Sergeant, 'I'll ask again. Who are you and what are you doing here?'Polly, feeling a little more human and a little less like a Polar bear, smiled at him:'We've landed just above you, Sergeant.''Landed? What in?''Oh in a...' She stopped, suddenly remembering the Doctor's warning to keep theirbusiness to themselves at all times. '... It's a sort of spaceship, actually.'

'You can knock off the gags,' replied the Sergeant. 'You've no business here. Thisis a military base. Out of bounds to all civilians.'The Doctor stepped forward: 'Ah, we must apologise then. Perhaps you wouldn'tmind telling me just where we are, my dear chap?'There was a quick smile on the faces of the assembled men. The Sergeant leantback against the table and folded his arms.'You're standing in the South Pole Base of International Space Command, andfrankly, pop''Doctor, if you don't mind.''O.K., Doctor, your story's gonna have to be awful good.'The Doctor's two companions gazed at each other in excitement.'You mean we're on Earth?' burst out Polly.'You heard, DuchessSouth Pole,' Ben reminded her.'Then we're home at last!' cried Polly, clutching Ben round the neck.The Sergeant gazed wearily from one to the other. 'Boy! Have we some right kookshere! Tito,' he nodded towards the ItalianAmerican, 'get the CO will ya.'The smile dropped from Tito's face as he backed away towards the door. 'He's notgoing to like this!''The CO?' queried the Doctor.'Commanding OfficerBoss!' Ben whispered in the Doctor's ear.Tito picked up the phone by the door and dialled the number. 'Hello, sir. DutyGuard Private Tito here. Could you give a message to the General, please?'


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Ben noticed that the men around the table stiffened to attention at the mentionofthe name. Cutler was obviously a man to be reckoned with. Ben began to feel a twinge ofnervousness.'Sir. I know that,' Tito explained into the telephone. 'But this is an emergency

. Oh, Isee. The General's not there. Can you tell me where he is then, sir?''I'm right here, Private.' Tito had not noticed the door behind him open, and theGeneral enter.The men in the room immediately snapped to attention. Cutler, his face impassiveas always, took in the scene. The long black cigar was still clenched firmly between hiseven white teeth.'What's it all about, Sergeant?'The Sergeant saluted and hesitated for a moment. 'Well, sir...'

'Who are these people?' Cutler snapped.'They just appeared... outside in the snow.' Cutler nodded. 'They came out of a...'The American Sergeant looked embarrassed, 'a hut!'Cutler slowly turned his gaze away from the three time travellers to look at theSergeant. 'A hut?''Yes, sir. It just appeared. We haven't seen it there before, that is...'Tito nodded in excited agreement. 'That's right, General. That's just the way ithappened.'Still with the same impassive, almost threatening look, Cutler moved towards the

three companions, and walked around them as if inspecting troops.He stopped in front of Ben and took in the sailor's uniform. 'Who are you?'Ben snapped to attention, saluted: 'Able Seaman... Ben Jackson... sir. Royal Navy.''Then why aren't you with your ship?''Well, sir,... it's difficult to explain.'Cutler's face was two inches away. 'You bet your life it is!'The Doctor stepped forward: 'I can assure you we mean you no harm, my dearGeneral.''You can assure me what you like. Whether I'll believe you or not is another matter.You people land at a military installation without authorisation or even properidentification,in the middle of a complex space shot...''A space shot!' exclaimed Polly excitedly.Cutler took the cigar out of his mouth. 'I've no time to deal with this now.' Hepointed the cigar almost threateningly at the three travellers. 'But by thunder,you'd betterhave a good explanation ready later.''I don't like your tone, sir,' the Doctor began.A faint smile appeared on the General's craggy features.'And I don't like your face, Grandad.'Turning from the speechless Doctor, he beckoned to the Sergeant. 'Sergeant, bring

them into the tracking room and keep them under guard in the observation chamber. I'llquestion them as soon as I have time.'


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The sight of the Doctor and his two companions entering the space tracking roomcreated a minor sensation. The technicians just stood and gapedespecially at theprettygirl with the long blonde hair, blue eyes, and tall, shapely figure. Barclay strode across tomeet the General: 'What on earth...?' he began.


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'Never mind now,' said Cutler brusquely. He motioned the Sergeant to take thethree time travellers into the observation chamber at the side of the main tracking room. Assoon as the three had filed into the narrow room, the General turned around andmotionedthe men back to their places: 'O.K., let's get back with it, we've a job to do.'

Cutler strolled past the seated men like a school teacher with a class of unrulyboys, eyeing them carefully before taking his usual place on the dais.'What are they doing here, Doctor?' Polly whispered excitedly. 'Is it some kindofspace shot?'Ben nodded and turned to the Doctor. 'Yeah, a smaller version of Houston SpaceControl. Mind you, not quite what you see on TV, is it?'The deep voice of the Sergeant, who had taken his place behind them in theviewing room, cut in: 'Don't know what you've seen on your TV, son, but this isGeneral

Cutler's outfit. He don't like a lot of personnel. Cuts them down to the bare minimum andworks 'em into the ground. We only do a couple of months stretch on this station.'The Doctor, who had been studying the wall behind them, suddenly cleared histhroat with a little clicking noise he sometimes made to attract their attention.'I don't want to depress you, but we... er... are not quite where you think we are.''What do you mean, Doctor?' asked Ben.The Doctor pointed to the calendar.'I don't see anything...' began Pollyand then her voice died away as she caughtsight of the date: 2000! The year was 2000!

'Oh, not again,' she moaned. 'I really thought we were on our way home this time.'Ben glumly nodded his agreement. 'Still adrift! That explains why there are so fewpeople. Computers do all the work now.' He turned round to look at the Sergeant.'Havethey reached Mars yet?'The Sergeant, more relaxed now, leant back against the wall and grinned. 'Ithought you watched TV, sailor?''You mean you have sent people to Mars?''An expedition came back five months ago.''Has this flight anything to do with it?' Polly asked, pointing towards the astronautson the screen which they could dearly see through the glass front of the observation booth.'No. Just the normal atmosphere testing probe. Purely routine. Nothing everhappens...'Suddenly, the attention of the three became engaged by a flurry of activity insidethe tracking room. The men were craning towards the main console. Barclay was gabblinginto the communication phone: 'An error? Where?'The voice of Williams boomed out over the loudspeakers:'Looks bad. We are now over South Island, New Zealand. We're reading a height of

eleven hundred miles.''Eleven hundred! That's impossible! ' He glanced sideways. 'Dyson, check what it


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should be, will you?'Dyson checked one of the illuminated dials. 'It should be nine hundred and eighty.'The Australian jumped up and, leaning across his smaller English colleague,tapped the computer read-out key.Again, the figure of nine hundred and eighty miles appeared on the dial.'Cripes!' exclaimed Barclay. 'You're right! Nine hundred and eighty miles. Out o

fposition by over one hundred miles.'He spoke into the mike again: 'Snowcap to Zeus Four. Do you read me?'The voice of the astronaut, crackling with static, came through on the loudspeaker.


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'Zeus Four to Snowcap. Strength eight. Over.''Take visual checks on Mars to establish position, please. Repeat back.'On the screen, they watched the coloured astronaut nod his head in agreement:'Will do. Out.'In the space capsule, Colonel Williams turned to Schultz. 'Did you get that, Dan?'

Schultz nodded grimly. The easy, relaxed atmosphere inside the small capsule haddisappeared. Both men now spoke with a quiet deliberation and a charged awareness oftheir predicament.'Go ahead then,' said Williams.Schultz swung a small telescope viewer into position. He looked at the vernier onthe telescope support. Beside him, William consulted a small chart fixed to theback of theinstruments.'Should be about four, two, zero.'

Schultz checked the verniers again. 'Nope. It's four, three, two.'For a moment, the other astronaut's composure broke. 'Ah, come on man, it can'tbe. Try again.''O.K.' He manipulated the small telescope again.'And get a move on. We'll be back in the sunrise shortly.'Schultz glanced out of the corner of his eye at the younger man. 'Take it easy,Glyn. We've time.'For a moment Williams struggled with his feelings and then, leaning forward slightlyto speak into the mike to Snowcap base, he became the impersonal, all-systems-goastronaut.'Did you hear that conversation?'

Dyson's voice came through on the loudspeaker. 'Yes, Colonel. We're getting aMars fix, too. We'll call back.''O.K.' Williams nodded and tried relaxing back; into his scat. 'I guess it's just...' hebegan, turning his, head to Schultz. But his eye suddenly caught something rigidand fixedin the older man's stance as he twisted round to look through the telescope.'Glyn?''Yes?' Williams felt a sudden prickle of fear. A new, grim note had crept into theastronaut's voice. If there was one man in the whole space establishment who neverallowed the slightest emotion to show, it was the veteran Schultz.'Now take it easy, but...''For Christ's sake what is it?' Williams flared.The older man turned round, eyes wide, face tautened. 'That wasn't Mars I had...''Is that all?' Williams forced himself to relax. 'Well that explains it, doesn'tit? C'mon,try again.'Without turning, the other man slowly shook his head. 'No, listen, Glynthere'ssomething else out there.''Something else? What?''Another planet.''Another... That's crazy! How can there be?'

For answer, Dan Schultz swung the telescope over to Williams' side on its hingedarm.


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The younger man grabbed it and studied the object Schultz indicated through thecapsule window. After a long minute, he slowly pushed the telescope aside, and turned to


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the veteran astronaut. 'You're right, Dan. There is something there. I can't seeit properly,but it reads as if it were in orbit between Mars and Venus.'Schultz nodded. 'That's it. You know, somehowI just can't put my finger on itbutit looks kinda familiar.'Their conversation was interrupted by the harsh sunlight of space entering throu

ghthe windows. They squinted and turned their eyes away from the bright light. 'Came thedawn!' Schultz frowned.'Yeah,' Williams nodded. 'We've had any further observations for a bit.' He turnedback to the mike. 'Hello Snowcap. Hello Snowcap. We are now in dawn. Over SanFrancisco. Can you get this object from where you are?''You are very faint. Put up the power output, please,' replied Barclay.Williams leant forward and spoke almost directly into the mike. 'Can you get thisobject on your retinascope?'

'Can do,' replied Barclay's voice.Williams' eyes suddenly became fixed on another dial close to the mike. 'Hey, Dan,look at this, will ya? That's odd ! ''Yeah.' Schultz turned round and followed the line of Williams' pointing finger.'Our fuel cells are showing a power loss. A pretty sharp drop.'The two men looked at each other anxiously.'What the hell's happening here?'


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3 The New PlanetThe tracking station room was buzzing with anxious conversation. Some of the menwere glued to the TV screen; others feverishly monitored the signals sent back to Earth.Barclay and Cutler abruptly left the dias and strode over to the operator of the

basetelescope.'Have you got it yet?' questioned Barclay.The technician shook his head.The telescope screen was clearly visible to the Doctor, Ben and Polly from theobservation room.Cutler nudged the technician: 'Hurry it up, fella.'Ben suddenly became aware that the Doctor was indulging in another favouritehabit. His head was tilted back, his eagle eyes were staring at the television screen, hisright hand was nervously stroking his cheek. It meant only one thing: the Doctorhad an

idea.Snatching out a little notebook and pencil, the Doctor hastily scribbled something.He finished and turned to the Sergeant standing beside him:'Sergeant, give this to your General, will you?''Me?' The Sergeant looked startled. 'If you think I'd interrupt him at this timeyou'recrazy!''It may be vital. If you'll take me to the General, I'm sure I'll be able to help him.'Recognising the note of command in the Doctor's voice, the Sergeant nodded andled them out of the observation room, and across to General Cutler, who was gazing at the

television screen.The round outline of the planet which had been picked up by the base telescope,although badly out of focus, was clearly visible.Without taking his eyes off the screen, Cutler spoke through his clenched teeth,thecigar still sticking from the corner of his mouth:'What is it?''The old guy would like a word with you, sir. Claims it's urgent.''O.K.' He beckoned the Doctor over. 'Make it fast.'The Doctor stared at the white pulsating circle of light on the screen. 'I thinkI knowwhat you're going to see.''Eh? How can you.' he snapped. The Doctor ripped a page out of his notebook.'It's all down here.' He flourished the paper, but the General took no notice. Instead,Barclay took the paper from his hand. Suddenly, Dyson, who had been standing ontheother side of the telescope, called out: 'Quick, we've got it!'Several technicians scrambled over to look at the screen. The circular blob of lighthad cleared; its out-lines were sharp; they could make out an object somewhat like a golfball in size, with light and shaded areas.It's a planet all right,' said Dyson.'How can it be?' Cutler cut in. 'Planets can't just appear from nowhere. Mars is

thenearest planet and it's way beyond this one.''It must be on an oblique orbit,' Barclay seemed to be almost speaking to himsel


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f.'And approaching quite fast.' Dyson turned to the Australian. 'Of course, that'swhat's drawing off the capsule!'


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Barclay nodded grimly. 'That's it all right. Zeus Four is out of orbit, and thenewplanet is influencing it.' 'That's about it.' Dyson nodded. 'It has to be.' 'Wemust get themdownquick.''An emergency splash down?' Cutler, who had felt at a loss during the preceeding

conversation between the more knowledgeable scientists, warmed to the prospect ofaction.'Yes.' Barclay moved back to his console, and flicked the mike switch. 'SnowcaptoZeus Four, come in please. Do you read me?'After the initial crackle of static from the speaker, Williams' voice came overfaintbut clear: 'Yes, we read you loud and clear now.''You are strength two only. Please speak up.' 'Our fuel cells show a power loss.'

'Power loss? How much?''The main banks are down approximately twenty per cent.'Barclay now spoke loudly and deliberately into the mike. 'We are going to bringyoudown now.''We need co-ordinates to correct orbit.'`Stand by.''What the hell's going on anyway?''I don't know,' replied Barclay. 'Let's get you down here and find out later. O.K.?''Suits us,' answered the voice from space.The two astronauts in the capsule were sweating visibly from the strain. Barclay's

voice came over the loudspeaker.'Corrected co-ordinates are: zero, zero, four, eight two zero and eight two three...'Williams began punching up the information. Leaning forward again, he shoutedinto the mounted microphone: 'Right. Now correct. Out.' He turned to his companion. 'Areyou ready on altitude jets, Dan?'Schultz twisted slightly and grasped two joystick controls. 'Ready.''Go.'Schultz pressed the buttons on the top of the joysticks; a metallic hissing roarcamefrom outside the capsulebut the long bar of sunlight across their chests failed to shift itsposition.Williams studied the instruments. 'Again.'Once more Schultz stabbed the controls. The two men heard the same hissing roarfrom outside the capsule as the retro jets fired. Then, abruptly, the long bar of sunlightflashed into their eyes, almost blinding them.'Look!' exclaimed Schultz. Outside the windows, in the full glare of the sun, the blueand white earth seemed to be spinning round the capsule in a dizzying kaleidoscope ofcolour.'We're tumbling!' shouted Schultz.

'Use the manual controls.'For the first time in his career experience, Major Schultz seemed almost paralysed,


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unable to act. His hands shook uncontrollably as the capsule swung round and round,wildly tumbling through space.Williams put his broad hand on the other man's shoulder and gripped it. 'Come on,man, get with it.'


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With an effort, Schultz shook his head, and snapped out of his momentary shock.He gripped the two joysticks, and heaved hard on the controls. 'I can't. It's too much forme!'Williams quickly freed himself from the retaining safety belt, leant over and, putting

his hands beneath the other man's, added his greater strength to the effort. Gritting theirteeth, they inched the controls back until, gradually, the lighthouse-like beamof the sunwhich had all this time been revolving wildly across their facesslowed down and finallystabilised.Williams eased back into his seat, leaving Schultz holding the controls. Their faceswere wet with sweat; their breath laboured almost to the limits of their endurance.'What's going on?' Williams grunted, painfully forcing his lungs to draw in air.

'I feelabsolutely clapped out.'Schultz nodded, his face grey. 'Something's taking all the power out of my body.What the heck's the matter now?'Cutler was in full command of the splash-down operation. He barked into the mikein front of him: 'Hello Hawaii. Zeus Four will splash down at 1445 your time. All helicoptersto area six immediately.'The loudspeaker bleeped. 'Check. Full deployment at 1400. Out.'Dyson was also playing his part in the splash-down operation. 'Hello Romecomputer base. Final descent path. Please compute and repeat.'

A voice with a foreign accent spoke in reply. 'All re-entry vectors are programmed.Read out at 1350.'Barclay glanced around the large tracking room. Each of the men was now totallyintent upon his part in the complex splash-down procedure. He pulled the mike closer, andspoke loudly. 'Hello Zeus Four. Your flight path is now correcting.'Schultz's voice surfaced over the angry flood of static. 'The power loss is nowincreasing. Something has happened to our limbs. We can hardly move.'Barclay glanced anxiously at the screen. The picture of the two men was nowflecked with little dots of whiteas though the picture had encountered bad interference atsome point in its transmission from space.'You've been up there a fair time. It's probably just space fatigue.''No... it's quite different. We had to operate the manual controls together. Neither ofus could have done it alone.'Barclay anxiously examined the screen before replying. Then he glanced down atthe paper Dyson had just slid along the top of the console, and replied. 'We have yourdescent path now. Stand by.'The astronauts in the capsule were growing weaker and weaker. Each movementseemed to require an immense effort.Barclay's voice came over the loudspeaker. 'Re-entry will begin in position foursix

zero, and verto rockets to go at fourteen, forty five.'Williams slowly raised his arm and weakly began operating the rows of switches in


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front of him.'Dan,' he croaked, 'put that into the computer, will you?'Schultz, wincing from the effort, stretched out his arm and started programmingthecomputer control in front of him.


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'One thing, man,' gasped Williams into the mike, 'you'll have to bring us in this timeround. We can't hang on any longer.'The two men held their breath as they waited for the reply. Then Barclay's voicecame over: 'You must. We can't bring you down this orbit. You'll over-shoot!'

With a sense of impending doom, the two men looked at each other wearily. Thegrey-haired older man shook his head : 'We'll never make it, Glyn.'The big negro astronaut seemed to pull himself together. 'Yes we will. Come on,Dan, we'd better check the re-entry controls. Ready?'Schultz nodded passively.'Retros one and three.'Schultz looked up at the dials: 'Check.''Main 'chute cover?''Yeah. O. K.''Heat shield bolts?''Yep.' The routine of checking the instruments was one that Schultz couldpractically do blindfoldthe familiar re-entry pattern.

Suddenly Williams looked at the instruments above his head and anxiously glancedback at him. 'Dan, what do you make our position?'Schultz leant over. His face contorted painfully. 'We've swung out again!'Williams heaved forward, and shouted into the mike: 'Emergency! Emergency! Wehave left flight path again. Give correction please, urgent.'


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4 Mondas!Barclay jumped up and slammed down the clipboard on which he had been makingnotes. 'It must be that flaming planet. Its gravity is affecting the capsule.''What do we do about it?' asked Dyson, who was standing beside him.'What can we do?' Barclay beganand then realised that the eyes of most of themen in the room were on him. He pulled himself together. 'First of all we must g

ive ZeusFour a new correction path. Will you do that?'Dyson nodded. 'Right away.''Then we must get a better fix on this so-called planet and try to identify it.'He looked across at Cutler, who was standing by the television screen, and noticedthat the General had undone the buttons of his tunicsomething Cutler only did inextremeemergencies.'It's considerably clearer now,' commented Cutler.Barclay nodded then, remembering something, strode quickly across the floor of

the control room to-wards the observation room. He beckoned to the Doctor.When the Doctor appeared, he spoke quickly. 'You say you know something aboutthis new planet? Let's have it.'The Doctor looked away thoughtfully for a moment, and tapped his fingers on hislapels. 'Well, I'm not absolutely sure. Perhaps if I can look at it again.'Barclay turned round and shouted across to one of the technicians : 'Feed theretinascope picture to the observation monitor.'One of the nearby technicians pressed a button and the picture of the twoastronauts was replaced by an image of a planet the size of a football. Barclayand theDoctor moved forward to observe it more closely.'What about setting these boys down, eh, Dr Barclay?' shouted Cutler angrily from

behind them.But the scientist had been caught by something in the appearance of the newplanet. 'Yes, yes,' shouted the Doctor excitedly, his eyes shining with the stimulus of a newidea. 'It's just as I thought. Perhaps you would care to examine these land masses here.'He pointed to one side of the screen. Cutler, caught by the urgent tone of the Doctor'svoice, also turned round to examine the screen.'Land masses. I don't see any... Oh yeh, I see what you mean!'The image of the strange planet was now fairly clear on the larger screen. Muchofit was covered in white cloud masses, but they could make out the outline of a long trianglewith slightly curved edges.'Does that remind you of anything?' asked the Doctor.Cutler shrugged his shoulders. 'No, I don't reckon so.Unnoticed by the others, the Sergeant, followed by Polly and Ben, had come upbehind the Doctor.It was Ben who spoke. 'Hey, it looks familiar, don't it?''Yes!' Polly moved a bit closer to the screen. 'Ben, look. That bit, surely that's...South America!''Yeah! And lookthe other side. Doesn't that look like... Africa!''There is a marked similarity,' said Barclay slowly.


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'Nonsense!' exclaimed Cutler. 'How could it be?' For answer, Barclay pointed tothetop of the map.'Look. Surely that's Arabia, India...'The General nodded reluctantly. 'Well, O.K. I must be some reflection of Earth.'

'No.' The scientist was thinking aloud. 'It can't be that. There's nothing to reflect on.'Behind him, the Doctor, a slightly self-satisfied expression on his face, had drawnhimself up to his full height. 'Now,' he said, 'my dear sir, I suggest you lookat that piece ofpaper I gave you.''Paper? Oh yes!' Barclay fumbled in his pocket and brought it out. His eyes openedwide with amazement as he read it. 'You knew?'The Doctor nodded a little smugly. 'Certainly.''What did he know?' rapped Cutler.

Barclay held out the paper to the General. 'He has correctly written down what wehave just seen and...' He looked at the Doctor in amazement. '... he did it before we saw it!'Cutler looked down suspiciously at the piece of paper in his hand. 'Some kind ofcon trick, that's all.'But Ben noticed that from now on he seemed to treat the Doctor with a waryrespect.Barclay shook his head. 'No, no, I remember when he gave me the bit of paper.' Heturned back to the Doctor. 'You really know a great deal about this situation. Can you be

more explicit?'The Doctor nodded and grasped the lapels of his cloak. He looked a little like aschool teacher addressing a class. 'Yes, I'm sorry to say that I can. Millions of years agoEarth had a twin planet called Mondas...''Get lost! We've no time to listen to this...' Cutler turned away in disgust andcalledto the technician manning the communications console. 'Get me Geneva on the radio link.'He turned back to Barclay. 'We'll see what Secretary Wiener has to say about this.' Hestrode over to the communications console, Barclay following him.Polly turned angrily to the Doctor. 'How can he be so rude to you? What's thematter, Doctor? You're looking terribly worried.''Really? Yes, I suppose you could say I'm a little worried.''Tell us then, Doctor. What's happening?' pleaded Ben.'You see, Ben know what this planet is and what it means to Earth.''Means to Earth!' echoed Ben. 'How can it affect us?'The Doctor gazed up at the ceiling. His companions noticed that his cheek wastwitching in agitation. He spoke slowly and deliberately : 'Before very long, I'm afraid wemust expect... visitors!''Visitors? Out here at the South Pole? Come off it, Doctor! Who do you think'sgoing to bring them? Santa Claus on his sledge?'

But the Doctor didn't appear to have heard Ben. He was watching Cutler, who wasspeaking into the console. 'Quiet boy, quiet.'Cutler's loud voice echoed through the tracking room. 'Is that I.S.C. Geneva? Pu


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tme through to the Secretary-General. Yes, that's right.'The Doctor turned to the Sergeant who was standing behind them. 'May I ask whothat is?''Gee!' The Sergeant seemed genuinely surprised. `You really are out of touch,aren't you? That's Secretary-General of International Space Command: Robert Wigner!'


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Secretary Wigner, supreme commander of the International Space Command, wasseated at his desk in the Geneva headquarters. A compact, dark-haired man of about forty,his round, slightly pudgy face gave no indication of his formidable character. He wasrespected throughout the world as an extremely efficienteven ruthlessadministrator

,with an enormous intelligence.The large, circular crest of International Space Commanda globe with anoutstreched hand holding a spaceship pointing towards the starsdominated the wallbehind him.Wigner spoke into one of his many radio-phones. 'This is very hard to believe,General. Are you quite sure?'Cutler's voice came through on the suspended loud-speaker system. 'There's nodoubt at all.'Wigner thought for a moment and then nodded. 'Very well. Just a moment please.'He turned to one of his aides.

'Get on to Mount Palomar and ask them to provide us with a picture as soon aspossible.' He turned to another colleague. 'Contact Jodrell Bank and ask them toget anexact fix on this "planet". We must have dataand quickly!'He turned back to the radio-phone. 'Let me know the moment you have any moreinformation, General.'Wigner leant back for a moment and looked across at a large wall map on whichred circles marked the various space tracking stations. His grey eyes looked cold andthoughtful.Cutler's voice came through again. 'One more thing, sir.'Wigner, shaken out of his thoughts, leant forward impatiently. 'Yes?''We have three intruders.'

'Intruders? At the Pole? Where did they come from?''We haven't interrogated them yetbut one of them seems to know quite a bitabout this new planet.''I don't understand. How can he possibly know?''We'll find out, Mr Secretary.''Do that immediately, relay at once any further information.'In the tracking room, Cutler turned to face the Doctor and his companions.'O.K. You heard the Secretary-General. Now suppose you tell me how you reallygot here.''Ah,' replied the Doctor, 'that will be rather difficult.''Not nearly as difficult as I can be. You'd better believe that, Doctor.' Cutler'spowerful frame was looming over him, his large jaw jutting forward. 'Now listen.You turn upfrom nowhere. A routine space shot goes wrong. A new planet appears. You tell usyouknow all about it. That puts you in the hot seat. Right?'The Doctor looked puzzled. 'Hot seat?''On the carpet,' Ben whispered.'We've got nothing to do with it,' complained Polly quickly.'Can you prove it?''Well,' began the Doctor a little nervously, 'if you let us return to where we camefrom, you would not be troubled further' The Doctor turnedand met the hard gaze of

the Sergeant who was standing behind him. His fingers were tapping the strap ofhismachine gun, which was still slung loosely over his shoulder.


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'You're not going anywhere, Doctor,' replied the General. As though rememberingsomething, he turned back to the Sergeant. 'Have you searched that hut of theirsyet?''No, sir.''Why the devil not?' Cutler exploded. 'Send your men out there and get it donenowthen we might get to the bottom of this!'

Outside, it was still snowing hard. Had the Sergeant and his men been out amoment sooner, they would have seen, dimly visible through the murk, a long blacktorpedo-like object coming into land just beyond the TARDIS...As it landed, it gave out a high-pitched winnowing sound and a red light mountedon top flashed briefly. Over the roar of wind there was a faint bubbling radiophonic noisefrom the body of the object. Then all noise ceased, and the long, rocket-like object beganto disappear beneath the driving snow.The trap door opened with a splintering crack of ice and one by one, the parka c

ladfigures of the Sergeant, Tito and a third soldier emerged from the warmth of theBase. Titowas carrying a small portable electric drill powered by a set of back batteries,and the othersoldier, a crowbar. They looked around them: nothing but snow everywhere...The Sergeant pointed in the direction of the TARDIS and, balancing themselvesagainst the strong wind, they staggered across the snow towards it. They completely failedto see the long black object, which had nestled deep in the snow beyond the police box.The three men ran their hands over the surface of the TARDIS. It seemed to bemade of some sort of metal. The Sergeant tried to open the door, but found it lo

cked. Hebanged it with his fist, heaved against it with his shoulderbut without success.Tito now came forward with the drill, flicked the switch, and applied it to a point justabove the lock. The Sergeant and the other men watched as a wisp of smoke beganto risefrom the drill point. Tito groaned and switched it off.'What's up?' asked the Sergeant.Tito held up the hand-drill : the end had fractured clean off. 'Dunno what the heckthat metal is, Sarge, but it's too tough for this drill.'The Sergeant nodded. 'Reckon we're going to need a welding torch to get insidethis thing. Get back inside and bring me one outand bring an extra helper. You'llneedsomeone else to help.' Tito shambled off.The crowbar proved equally useless.The Sergeant began kicking the TARDIS in disgust, and beating his hands on hisribs to keep warm.From behind the TARDIS, a strange radiophonic bubbling sound penetratedthrough the blizzard.The two men stopped stamping and turned round. 'What's that! Hey, Tito, is thatyou?' The sound stopped.The Sergeant looked at the other soldier, shrugged his shoulders and turned backto the TARDIS again. The soldier tapped him on the shoulder. 'Sarge.'

'Yeah,' mumbled the Sergeant, irritated. Every time he spoke he had to pull downhis face mask, and he was acquiring a beard of white frost all around his mouth


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and nose.'What is it?'The man pointed beyond the TARDIS. The Sergeant looked. Three lights weremoving towards them through the murk of the blizzard. Again the radiophonic bubblingsound, now slightly raised in pitch, drifted across the frozen waste.


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'What's going on? Who the heck's that?' The Sergeant tried to rub the snow fromthe outside of his goggles to clear themthen realised that it was frozen condensationwithin. He whipped them off in disgust and, shielding his eyes, peered through the snow.The three lights were slowly changing into three tall, straight figures which we

removing forward across the ice with a slow, deliberate step, and the perfect unison ofguardsmen on parade.The Sergeant swung the gun from his shoulder, and challenged the three figures:'O.K. Stay right there.'But the tall figures, each one seemingly clad in a silver armoured suit, continued tomove inexorably towards them.'I warn you,' shouted the Sergeant, 'one more step and I'll open fire.'The Sergeant gazed, horror-struck, as they came nearer and nearer. He made outtheir chestswhich resembled concertina-like packs. For heads, they had helmets wi

thside handles, a mounted light, circles foreyes and a slit for a mouth. Seen at closer quarters they were much more likerobots than human beings!Jerking up his machine gun, he aimed and pulled the trigger. The mouth of the gunspurted fire and a stream of bullets sprayed across the marching figures. To hishorror thebullets seemed to have no affect whatsoever! Not for one moment did they stop theirsteady march towards the two frightened men. Finally, the gun jammed in the bitter cold,and the Sergeant swung it back to club down the nearest figurewho was now directl

y infront of him. Before he could do so, the leading figure raised an arm and swungitdownwards in a terrible chop.With a cry, the Sergeant staggered backwards and collapsed in the snow. Hissightless eyes gazed up; his headthe neck completely shatteredlolled at a grotesqueangle.The other soldier, meanwhile, had been backing away, brandishing the crowbar infront of him like a quarterstaff. Suddenly, one of the robot figures reached forward andgrasped the end of it.After a brief tug-of-war, the robot, exerting his tremendous strength, swung hisarmup, and lifted the man right off his feet, holding him suspended at arm's length. Quickly thesoldier let go, but before he could scramble to his feet, the robot had swung the heavy bareffortlessly through the air and had brought it crashing down on the soldier's head,smashing helmet and skull like an eggshell. The man lay motionless in death; a red stainbegan to taint the snow.Two minutes later, Tito and another soldier emerged from the trap door with thewelding equipment.

Peering through the driving snow, they glimpsed two parka-clad figures standingbythe TARDIS.


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Tito called out to them : `Hey, Sarge, this should do it, eh?' Neither figure turned.'Sarge' Tito's voice choked in his throat as the parka-clad figures by the TARDISturned round, their hoods falling away to reveal the blank masks of Cybermen.The soldiers, loaded down with the heavy welding equipment, didn't stand achance. The two giant figures moved forward and dealt two more deadly blows.

For a moment, the leading Cyberman looked down at the two crumpled figures. Hethen gestured to one of his companion robots, who knelt down and began to divestthe twodead men of their parka jackets and thick leggings...


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5 The Cyberman InvasionInside the tracking room, General Cutler, cigar held loosely between his lips, feeton the console in front of him, was leaning back in his chair. The Doctor, who was standingbeside him, had just finished telling his story.

'That's the most fantastic story I've ever heard. You can't expect us to believethat,Doctor.'The Doctor looked a trifle huffy. 'I can only repeat what I have already said. Wemust expect visitors from that planet.'Cutler shook his head. 'Not a chance. Anyway, we've more important things to thinkabout right now.' He turned to Barclay. 'What's the position in the capsule, Tom?''They have full instructions, General. I'm just doing the final check.'Cutler swung his legs off the desk and walked across to the radar technician.

'What's the range?''One thousand two hundred and fifty miles, sir.''How far are they off course?''Two hundred and thirty miles.''Then it's increasing.''Yes, I'm afraid it is, sir.'Cutler walked back to the console, leant over the desk, and spoke into the mike.'Attention Zeus Four. Snowcap here. Don't worry, boyseverything's under control.We'llget you down double quick. You'll be having supper in Hawaii tonight with all those lovelygirls!'

'Get me Polar Base,' snapped Wigner,Tension was mounting at the International Space Centre. The communicationsconsole at the far end of the roomformerly emptywas now manned by I.S.C.technicians. One of them turned to the Secretary General. 'We're having troublethere, sir.''Well keep trying.' Wigner turned in his chair, drummed his fingers on the desk,thenleant forward and switched on the television monitor set in front of him. An announcer,familiar to millions of American homes, was standing beside a large globe of theEarth.'Since it was first discovered at South Pole Rocket Base,' the commentator wassaying, 'reports have been coming in from observatories over the world confirming itsexistence.' A piece of paper was slipped to him, which he seized, and then announcedtriumphantly, 'Here, straight from Mount Paloma Observatory is the first pictureof ourneighbour in space.'As Wigner watched, the camera moved in for a close-up of the new 'TenthPlanet'as the news media were already calling it.'Some observers have reported that its land masses resemble those of Earth,' thecommentator continued, 'but this is being hotly disputed in top astronomical circles, and no

general agreement has yet been reached. Jodrell Bank, England, say that the planet isapproaching Earthbut there is absolutely no cause for alarm. It won't come near e


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noughto collide. I repeatthere is no danger.'Wigner leant forward and switched off the monitor. He turned impatiently to thecommunications technician. 'What about Polar Base? Are you through?''No, sir, we can't get them.''What's happened?'


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'There's some degree of interference.''What do you meaninterference? Who on earth would try to jam communicationsat a time like this?The technician shook his head. 'I don't know, sir. It doesn't resemble any of theclassic jamming techniques used by...' he hesitated for a moment, '... other pow

er blocks.This is something quite different. It's enormously powerful andit seems to be comingfrom the Snowcap base itself!''May I have everyone's attention, please,' Barclay was standing by his console.Hewaited until all the men in the room were attending fully, and then continued, 'This isimportantso please listen carefully. Final orbit beginning from base reference one is...' hepaused to look down at his console. '... four minutes ten seconds. Now we have an

extremely difficult job on our hands. Everyone must be on their toes all the time. If thecapsule power falls too low I shall take over re-entry from here, and for that Ishall need allthe radar tracking team behind me. Reference one commencing now.'Inside the observation room, the three time travellers were sharing the generaltension outside. 'They must bring them down right away,' remarked the Doctor.'Why?' asked Polly.'Because they will be quite unable to complete another orbit.''Hadn't you better tell them?' Ben motioned to the three men on the dais.'They probably know already.'Ben rose from the bench. 'Well, if you don't, I will.'He turned to leave the observation roombut the Doctor caught his arm and held it

in an iron grip. Ben winced. But the Doctor didn't seem to be aware of the pressure he wasapplyingsomething at the far end of the tracking room had caught his attention.Three parka-clad figures had noiselessly entered, moved to the centre of thetracking room, and now stood immobile, their backs to the wall. Most of the occupants ofthe tracking room had their backs to themand parka-clad soldiers were, anyway, afamiliar enough sight. All Ben could see through the glass of the observation were three tallfigures with their heads slightly bentand a glimpse of snow goggles.'What is it?' asked Ben.'Stayinhere.' The Doctor spoke urgently, and shook Ben's arm to punctuate hiswords.'I don't get it. It's only those soldiers...''Nolook,' cried Polly. She let out a slight scream and held her hand to her mouth.From the other side of the room, the three Cybermen were slowly removing theirgoggles. The time travellers could now see quite clearly the flat, expressionless masks,and the reflected glints of light as their hoods were thrown back to reveal themenacingsilver helmets.Suddenly, a nearby technician turnedhis mouth fell open, thunderstruck. He wasfollowed by others. One by one the men became aware and turned to face the newarrivals.

Cutler, sitting on the dais with his back to them, was the last to notice. He caughtsight of the men rising from their consoles and backing away from the three visi


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tors.'What the devil!' he called. 'Get back to your places.' Then he turned and saw thetall, menacing figures.A soldier standing guard at the other end of the room saw the Cybermen, reachedfor his carbine, and took aim. The nearby technicians ducked under their consoles. In


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response, one of the Cybermen casually raised a short silver baton-like object,and levelledit.The soldier's shot rang out across the room. It was followed almost immediatelybya red flash and a short hard noise like a football rattle from the Cyberman's we

apon. Thesoldier froze in his tracks, the carbine dropped from his hands, and he fell back against theconsole. Smoke spiralled upwards from the openings in his uniform.'Oh no!' Polly moved past the Doctor to go to the aid of the fallen soldier, butwasstopped by Ben.'Stay where you are, Duchess. They'll blow your head off.' He pulled her backinside the observation room.Everyone was waiting breathlessly for the Cybermen's next move. Finally, Cutlerflung his cigar on the floor, stamped on it and stood up. 'Everyone back to their places.'

The Cyberleader Krail, who had fired on the soldier, stepped forward. His flat,monotonous voice spoke sharply. 'Stop.'Cutler, his face black with rage, turned on the Cyberman. 'I don't know what youare, or who you are, but we've got two men up in space and if we don't act now they won'tget down alive.'The Cyberman replied in the same flat, inexpressive monotone. 'They will notreturn.'There was a chorus of exclamations from the men in the room.'Not return?' spoke up Barclay. 'Why not?'The Cyberleader waited until the chorus of voices had died down.'It is unimportant.'

'Like hell!' Cutler flared. 'We must get them down. Get out of my way.' He started tomove towards the radar screenbut was blocked by the Cyberman.'There is no point,' the Cyberleader continued. 'They could never reach Earth now.'The three time travellers came out of the observation room. Polly walked up to theCyberleader. 'But don't you care?''Care?' the Cyberleader repeated. 'I do not understand.''Care because they're people. They're going to die.''There are people dying all over your world. Do you "care" for all of them?''But...' Polly floundered, 'we might save these two men.'The Cyberleader ignored her and strode slowly and ponderously towards the headdais. He addressed Barclay. 'You will be wondering what has happened. Your astronomersmust have just discovered a new planet. Is that not so?'Barclay nodded excitedly. 'Yes, that's right.''That is where we come from. It is called Mondas.''Mondas,' Barclay repeated. 'Isn't that one of the ancient names for Earth?''Yes. Aeons ago the planets were twins. Then we drifted away from you to the veryedge of space. Now we have returned.'Ben turned to the Doctor and spoke under his breath. 'You were right, Doctor.'General Cutler, confused by this exchange, strode forward and tried to reasserthis

authority.'But who, or...' He looked at their shining, silver-clad limbsobviously made froma


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plastic-and-metal alloy. '... what are you?''We are called Cybermen,' replied the Cyberleader. 'We were exactly like you once.Then our Cybernetic scientists realised that our race was weakening.''Weakening? How?' asked Barclay.


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'Our life span was contracting, so our scientists and doctors invented spare partsfor our bodies until we could be almost completely replaced.''But,' Polly burst in, 'that means you're not like us. You're not people at all,you're...robots ! '

'That is not so. Our brains are just like yours except that certain... weaknesses havebeen removed.''Weaknesses?' repeated Barclay. 'What weaknesses?'Behind him, Cutler started edging back towards his console.'You call them emotions, do you not?''But that's terrible!' exclaimed Polly. 'You mean you wouldn't feel for someoneinpain?''There would be no need. We do not feel pain.''But we do.' Polly's eyes flashed. Alone of all the people in the room, she seemed

completely unafraid of the three tall visitors from space.Shielded by Barclay and the other men, Cutler reached the console. He lungedforward and pressed down the call switch to the International Space Commandheadquarters.Krail's two assistants immediately raised their guns to fire at himbut theCyberleader raised a restraining hand and walked over to the General.Cutler stared at him defiantly. 'That'll stop you. I've just declared a state ofinternational emergency!'Wigner was speaking urgently to his conference colleagues at International SpaceCommand.'It seems to me that there is a pattern. Number onea new planet appears.

Number twothe Earth is losing its energy. Number threethe planet gets nearer and theenergy loss increases. This, to my mind, connects the two. Exactly how, I don'tknow. But...yes, what is it?'One of the technicians by the communications con-sole had stood up to catch hisattention. 'An emergency buzz from the Pole, sir.''What do they say?''Nothing, sir. It went off again immediately.'Wigner looked around at the other men and pondered for a moment. 'Heavy static,emergency signalthey're in serious trouble, sir.'He nodded to the waiting technician. 'Get them on the emergency microwave link.'The tension in the space tracking room had reached fever pitch. Only theCybermen themselves seemed to show no signs of having been affected by the situation.The Cyberleader, his voice flat and monotonous as ever, began to speak to Cutler. 'Youwill'A loud, intermittent buzzing interrupted him. A red light started flashing behind thedais. Cutler smiled triumphantly at the Cyberleader.'Now,' continued the Cyberleader, 'you will pick up the radio and tell EuropeInternational Space Command that nothing further has happened and that all is well here.'

Cutler shook his head firmly. 'No way!''That is an order.' The Cyberman's flat electronic voice only emphasised themenace in his words.


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'I refuseand there's nothing you can do about it.' The tall General's head wasalmost on a level with that of the Cyberleader. He stared hard at the blank circular eyeholes as if trying to probe through to the mind within.For a moment, the Cyberman seemed to pause indecisively.'They're going to back down,' whispered Polly in excitement. But Ben quickly put

hishand over her mouth before the Cyberman could catch another word.The Cyberleader put his hand to his chest unit and turned one of the knobsmounted on its concertina-like surface. A blinding flash of lightsimilar to a photographicflash gunstreaked out from the mounted light on the Cyberman's helmet. It seemedtostretch in a long vivid blue arc to the side of General Cutler's head. He screamed with pain,his head jerked back, and he crumpled to the floor.As the man nearest to him rushed forward to help, Krail gestured to him to stayback.

'You murderers!' Polly shouted. 'You've killed him!'


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6 Ben into ActionAt the order of the Cyberleader, one of the Cybermen bent down, lifted the heavybody of the American General as easily as that of a five-year-old child, and stretched himout along the top of the nearest console. Apart from a slight black burn mark wh

ere thelightning flash had struck, the General seemed to be unharmed.'He is not dead,' confirmed the Cyberleader. 'He will recover.'There was a gasp of relief from the assembled men.'Now,' continued the Cyberleader, looking around, 'who will give the message toyour space commander?' His eyes came to rest on Dyson, and a long silver arm pointedtowards him. Dyson fell back, face sweating, mouth sagging open with fear.'Youwhich are the communication controls?' Dyson quickly turned and walkedover to the R/T communication console.'Dyson,' Barclay's voice was like a whip lash. 'Think what you're doing, man!'The Englishman turned to face him. His face was twisted with agony and fear.

'What else can we do? They'll kill us all.'For a moment Barclay hovered uncertainly and then turned to the Cyberleader.'What are you going to do?''You will see,' replied Krail.The Cyberleader reached down and unclipped the long Cyberweapon that hadkilled the guard. He brought it up and took aim at the centre of the communicationsconsole.'No! ' cried Barclay. He rushed forward and interposed his body between theCyberleader's gun and the R/T set. 'If you destroy those, all contact with the space capsulewill be broken!'Dyson turned to Barclay. 'For God's sake, man, do as he asks.' His voice quavere

d.'Do you want the place destroyed?'The tall Australian hesitated for a momentand then nodded. 'All right.' He pickedup the desk microphone.'Hello, Geneva. Hello, Geneva.'After a brief crackle of static, the waiting men heard the voice of Wigner overtheR/T loudspeaker.'Snowcapat last! What's going on? We received an emergency call from you onthe micro-link.'Barclay wiped his brow for a moment. 'Ah, yesit wasan error, sir. We'reworking on it now. Sorry about the false alarm.''Where is this static coming from? We can hardly hear youeven on this band.'Barclay looked round, desperately searching for an explanation. The Cyberleader,standing right in front of him, slowly raised the gun until it was on a level with his face.'IIerit's most likely to have been the reactor. We had the moderator rods outfor a short while this afternoon.'After a long pause, Wigner spoke again. 'I see. Contact us if you have ,any furtherreports on this new planet.''Yes, sir.' Barclay leant forward and switched off the R/T set with his trembling

hand. Without looking further at the Cybermen and the other men, he staggered back to his


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console and collapsed into his seat. Dyson followed him over and put his hand onhisshoulder.'We'd have all done exactly the same, Dr Barclay. We had no option.'Barclay looked up, pushed Dyson's hand off his shoulder and, with sudden resolve,

stood up and walked across to the Cyberleader. His voice rang round the trackingroom.'Right. We've done what you asked. Now you must let us try to recover ourastronauts.''I told youit is impossible for them to get back now. The pull of Mondas is toostrong.''You can at least let us try!''It is a foregone conclusionyou are wasting your time. However, if you wish tocontact them, I have no objection.'Krail turned to the other two Cybermen.'He and his colleagues may use their equipment. Any attempt at deceitkill them at

once.' The Cyberleader pointed to the body of the dead soldier. 'Take that out of here.'As the Cybermen dragged the body of the soldier from the room, Barclaydesperately tried to make contact with the two stranded astronauts.'Zeus Four, Zeus Four, come in please. Zeus Four, Zeus Four, come in.'After what seemed an age, the voice of Colonel Williams came through.'We have you. Over.''Prepare to check orbital vectors.'Meanwhile, Ben had been edging closer to the Doctor. He now leant across andspoke in his ear.'While they fight it out, Doctor, let's make a break for it.''Eh? Break for it?''Yes. We can get back to the TARDIS.'

'How, my boy?''We can run for itdown that corridor to the trap door, and bolt it behind us.'The Doctor shook his head. 'They'd burn it down in a flash.'Ben looked round desperately. 'There must be something we can do.' He spottedone of the carbines which had been dropped by the guard, and now stood propped againstthe wall. 'For a start, we can use that.'Polly pricked up her ears. 'Ben, don't be crazy. They'll see you.'Ben shook his head. He started edging his way across the room towards the gun...'Ground range computer.' All the men in the room were fully concentrating on thejob in hand. They were relieved to be handling a familiar routine.Williams' voice came over the loudspeaker. 'On target.''Steering jet fuel reserve?' queried Barclay. Schultz's voice answered. 'Adequate.'Ben had almost reached the gun. He glanced around quickly. The three Cybermenwere looking fixedly, immobile as statues, towards Barclay and the wavering televisionpicture of Schultz and Williams.'Suit temperature,' continued Barclay.With a quick motion, Ben bent down, grabbed the barrel of the carbine, and swungit behind him. Quick as his action had been, it had not escaped the attention ofthe

Cyberleader. He wheeled round and advanced on the three time travellers.For a moment Ben considered swinging the gun round, and letting flybut Pollyand the Doctor, who were standing beside him, might get hurt in the fight. He de


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cided towait for another opening.


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The Cyberleader, looking taller and even more terrifying at close range, haltedinfront of him.'You do not seem to take us seriously.' He held out his hand. 'Give me that gun.'Ben hesitated for a moment but, with the huge bulk of the Cyberman looming over

him, he had no option. He meekly brought the gun round and handed it over. TheCyberman gazed at it for a second and, without any apparent effort, flexed bothhis arms.The Doctor's companions watched in horrified amazement as he splintered andbroke away the wooden stock, bending the barrelas easily as if it had been wireinto aright angle.'When will you humans learn? Your weapons are useless against us! ' TheCyberman flung the gun aside, then turned to the remaining Cybermen. 'Take him away.''Oh no ! ' Polly screamed, holding on to Ben's arm. But Ben shook her off. 'If he

wanted to kill me, Duchess, he'd do sojust like that.''Yes.' The Cyberleader echoed his words. 'It is quite useless to resist us. We a

restronger and more efficient than you earth people. We must be obeyed.'Polly and the Doctor watched as the Cyberman lead Ben from the room.


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7 Battle in the Projection RoomThe Cyberman, holding Ben's wrists in a vice-like grip, half pulled and half draggedhim along the corridors.The Cyberman halted at a door at the end of the corridor. He checked that its lock

contained a key, turned it, and flung the door open. With a swing of his arm, hethrew Beninto the room, and slammed the door shut.Rubbing his wrists, which were bruised and numb from the crushing grip of thesilver giant, Ben rose from the floor and tried the door handle. Locked.He flung his shoulder against itand added another bruise to his collection.Rubbing his shoulder, he looked around curiously. Where had they put him?One glance identified his location. When he had been flung through the door, hehad collided with a film projector mounted on a tall metal stand. To its left stood a bench;above it, a rack of film cans.The camera projected through a glass panel at the end of the room. Ben rushed

eagerly over and peered throughbut the base cinema beyond was in darkness. Therewas no other way out.

The two astronauts, now haggard and sweating, strained to hear Barclay's voicethrough the heavy static. The beam of light from the windows now swung slowly acrosstheir chests. It had almost stabilised.'You begin exactly eighty seconds from now. Are you ready to go?'Williams glanced across at Schultz, who nodded.'Yes, we're ready.' Williams spoke as loudly, and with as much strength as he couldmuster into the microphone.'Our readings show that you need forward correction of seven degrees.'Williams glanced down at an instrument. 'That checks. We will correct with altit

udecontrols.' He nodded to Schultz : 'Go ahead, Dan.'Schultz reached for the joystick controls, forcing his muscles to work with a greateffort. He manoeuvred the controls carefully, checking the instrument panels ashe did so.Then he pressed the retro-rocket switch for a brief second.Both men heard with relief the hissing roar of the rocket motors from outside thecapsule. Schultz leaned forward excitedly, examined the dial reading, and gave the thumbsup sign to Williams.'Hello, Snowcap,' Schultz cried. 'We have reorientated the capsule. Altitude nowcorrect.'Barclay's voice rasped over the loudspeaker. 'Retro rockets to go in twentyseconds. After I give you the word, you come in on your own. Right?'Williams nodded. 'Will do.'The decision had not been an easy one. It meant that the two astronauts wouldhave to fly their capsule manually without any help from the base computer. Theimportantthing now was to slow the capsule down from its orbiting speed to re-entry velocity. A slowenough speed to enable them to land safely, drawn down by the Earth's gravity.But was there enough power to 'brake' the capsule? Again, Schultz's hand moved

towards the switch labelled RETRO.


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Barclay was counting down. 'Seven, six, five, four, three, two, onefire ! 'Schultz pressed the switch. There was an immediate low-pitched thundering as thepowerful retro rockets fired.The two astronauts were slammed back in their seats, their faces flattening in the

characteristic stretching of a person subject to heavy negative G-forces. The wholecapsule was being vibrated. The teeth of the two astronauts were chattering fromtheheavy shaking.The roaring went on for seven long seconds, then, abruptly, shut off. The facesofthe two men contracted back to normal and they shook their heads in relief.'Check the velocity, Dan,' Williams said. 'I'll do the ground check.'Schultz nodded, rubbed his brow slightly as if to clear his vision, and peeredforward at the instruments. His expression suddenly changed as he read the speed

indicator dials. 'We're not down to re-entry velocity!''What!' Williams leant over to check Schultz's reading.'No doubt about it. We're still at fourteen five. We should be down to eleven two!''Quick,' said Williams. 'We'll have to use the retros again.''Right.' Schultz reached for the switch, studying the instruments. He glanced over atWilliams. 'How long for, Glyn?'Williams, who was manipulating one of the small on-board computers, pointed hisfinger as the answer clicked up on a dial: '4.2 seconds.'Schultz adjusted a control in front of him.'Are you ready?' asked Williams.They both braced themselves in their seats, their faces tense and set.

'Fire! 'Again, the capsule began to vibrate violently beneath their feet; the thunderousnoise was almost deafening, their faces contorted with the pressure. This time it lasted for4.2 seconds. Once again the two men relaxed back, shook themselves, and waited for theblood to return to their heads. Every movement now caused them acute pain; bothfeltweak and exhausted.'What's it now?'Schultz was peering at the instrument panel.'Hurry up ! ' shouted Williams impatiently. Then he saw that the older man lookedstricken, almost paralysed, with fright.'It's fifteen one! We're not slowing... we're speeding up... uncontrollably!'Williams leant back incredulously, rubbing the sweat from his brow. 'O.K. Fire theretros again!'Exerting almost superhuman effort, Schultz managed to stretch his tremblingfingers to make contact with the operating switch.Once more, the hissing roar of the rocket motors shook the space capsule. Thistime it cut off abruptly after only two seconds.Schultz looked at the fuel gauge, his face white with fear. 'The fuel's completely

outgone ! 'Williams leant forward, shouting into the mike: 'Emergency! Emergency! CallingSnowcap. Emergency!'


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In spite of the heating, every limb in Polly's body was tremblingshe might just aswell have been outside in the snow! Half the personnel of the base were clustered aroundthe monitor, their eyes anxiously riveted to the drama of the stranded astronauts.

Behind them, impassive as statues, stood the Cybermen.'Look at that damn radar now,' exclaimed Dyson. 'They're accelerating!'Polly shuddered and wrung her hands. 'Can't you do anything to help them?''Their retro fuel's gone,' Barclay answered.'I don't understand!' Polly was looking desperately from one man to the other.Before Barclay could answer, Dyson cut in. 'Their course is changingyes. They'reveering out nowaccelerating at an enormous speed.'The television picture of the two men inside the capsule, although streaked with'snow', was still clearly visible on the fixed screen. The two men had donned their spacehelmets. As the time travellers watched horrified, they saw the cabin start to f

ill with smoke.The two beams of light from the windows were gyrating wildly, the capsule wasspeeding faster and faster away from the Earth!The astronauts were making grasping movements towards the joystick controls but,with the great energy loss and the G-forces produced by the intense acceleration, seemedcompletely unable to reach them.'They're beyond escape velocity now,' said Dyson. 'They can't...'There was a sudden rise in the intensity of the light from the telescope screenasthough an invisible hand had turned up the brilliance control. The interior of the capsule

cabin whitened; Polly, and the others had to shield their eyes from the bright glare of thescreen. Then it slowly faded away until the television monitor went blank.Polly took her hands from her eyes, and looked around uncomprehendingly.Dyson's head was bowed at the console; Barclay was holding on to the side of thedesk,as though near to collapse.One of the radar technicians leant over and flicked a switch, cutting off the almostunbearable screech of static from the loudspeakers.In the sudden silence, Polly found her voice. 'What happened?''I'm afraid the capsule exploded, my dear,' replied the Doctor.'You mean,' Polly stared helplessly at the screen, 'they're dead... just like that?'The Doctor put his arm round her shoulders and, at the same time, looked over atthe Cybermen. As if in answer to the Doctor's glance, Cyberleader Krail steppedforward.'Now perhaps you can see that your planet is in great and imminent danger. Inorder to save you, we shall require information to be transmitted to Mondas.''Save us?' queried the Doctor.'What about those poor men?' cried Polly.'Now you will realise that you must co-operate with us. Mondas drew the ship awaywith its gravity. It was unavoidable.'

Dyson stood up. 'How? What's happening?'The Cyberleader turned to him. 'The energy of Mondas is nearly exhausted. It now


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returns to its twin planet for energy.''It will take the energy away from Earth?' queried the Doctor.'For how long?' Barclay broke in.'Until it is completely exhausted,' replied the icy, monotonous voice of Krail.'But that means that nothing will worklight, power, engines, planes, ships!'exclaimed Dyson. 'The Earth will die!''Yes, everything on Earth will stop.'


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Barclay strode forward. 'This is monstrous! You calmly tell us we're all going todie?''You are not.''Then how do you propose to stop the energy drain to Mondas?' asked the Doctor.'We cannot. It is beyond our powers.'

'Then how can we expect to survive?' said the Doctor.'By coming with us.' The Cyberleader now had the full attention of every man intheroom. 'We are going to take you all back to Mondas.'Ben had been hunting around the Projection Room in search of a weapon.Suddenly, his eyes fell upon a long screwdriver. He looked at it for a moment, balanced itin his handthen drove it into the table. It fell out on to the floortoo blunt to stick in.'Imagine trying to tackle one of them geezers with a screwdriver!' Ben said tohimself, in disgust.He leant back against the projection tablethen nearly fell to the floor as it mov

edbackwards on its trolley wheels. He turned round to examine it.'Here! Half a mo'!' An idea began to dawn. 'If I turn it on that door, the Cybermenwon't be able to see!'Ben studied the projection table for a moment, then looked at the projector itself. Areel of film was ready loaded. After a moment the sailor found the right switchand pressedit.The film began to move through the projector gate; a flickering image appeared onthe wall by the projection window. Ben recognised it immediately: Roger Moore as

JamesBond.'Cripes ! I saw that film just a few weeks ago!' He shook his head and thoughtagain. 'Twenty years or so by their time!'He glanced back at the film rack. Round the side of each of the reels, the titleof thefilm had been written in large black letters on white tape.'Ain't there nothing more recent than this?' But the other titles were unfamiliar tohim. He piled the film cans on the edge of the bench, then turned to the projection tableand swung it in a big arc. The coloured image of the film flittered over the bench and piledup films, ending on the white surface of the door.Ben walked over and switched off the light. In the darkness, the square image ofthe film was clearly visible. Bond was fighting a gang of black-clad Karate students!He watched it for a moment, then shrugged. 'Easy aint it, Commander! Like to seehow you'd handle a Cyberman!' He smiled to himself. 'Wouldn't mind having you inherejust the same!' Picking up the screwdriver, he walked to the door, and started banging on itwith the metal grip. Silence.

'Hey, Silver ! ' Ben shouted. 'Where are you?'He continued banging with the screwdriver. Surely the noise would carry to almost


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every part of the base?Finally, Ben watched as the key began to turn in the lock. He shuddered with feartoo late to be scared now! Ben stood behind the door, waiting. Only the flickering beam ofthe projector illuminated the near-dark room.Clang! The Cyberman flung the door back and stepped in. For a moment, the silver

giant, caught in the glare from the projector beam, was blinded. Only for a split secondbut it gave Ben his chance! He flung the screwdriver at the cans of film. They collapsed


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with a deafening clatter. As the Cyberman wheeled round, Ben snatched the Cyberweaponfrom its retaining clips on the Cyberman's thigh.Leaping to avoid a deadly chop, Ben aimed the weapon at the Cyberman's chest.The edge of the Cyberman's hand caught the door, slamming it shut with a metallic clang.

The Cyberrnan pressed a button on his chest unit. A dazzling beam of light fromthe Cyberman's helmet illuminated Ben, who was crouching behind the door.'Do not resist, give me that weapon.'Ben shook his head. 'Sorry, mate, I'm giving the orders now.'The Cyberman paused for a moment, looked at the weapon held in Ben's hand,then started to move towards him.As the Cyberman's arm slashed round in another terrible chop, Ben ducked andscurried behind the projector table. The Cyberman's hand shattered the bench andsentthe remaining cans tumbling to the floor. They burst open, spilling out great loops of film.'Look! I'm warning yer,' screamed Ben. 'I'll fire!'

The Cyberman moved forward inexorably, sweeping the projection table backagainst the wall with one flick of his arm. Ben looked around desperately. The tangled reelsof film were blocking his escape route. He was trapped. The Cyberman raised hisarm todeliver the death blow.Ben closed his eyes, pointed the Cyberweapon at the Cyberman's chest unit, andpressed the button.There was a loud, hard rattle. The Cyberman staggered back. The light abruptlywent out on his helmet and smoke started curling from his neck and from the armour-likecracks between his arms and shoulder units. As Ben watched, horrified, the giant's body

stiffened and crashed backwards to the floor.After several tense seconds of waiting, Ben plucked up courage to walk over to thedead Cyberman. Still aiming the Cyberweapon, Ben poked him gingerly with his toe.There was no sign of life. The Cyberman's plastic chest unit had meltedas thoughfrom a terrible heat. A wisp of smoke was still rising from the blackened edgesof a jagged,circular hole.Ben shook his head ruefully. 'You didn't give me no alternative, did you?'Stepping over the body, he cautiously opened the door of the Projection Room...


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8 Two Hundred and Fifty SpaceshipsThe Cyberleader had listened sternly to the protests of the assembled basescientists. Now he raised a hand for silence.'We will not argue. You must either come with us, or fade away on a dying planet.'Barclay shook his head. 'There is no scientific proof that this is a dying plane

t.''Anyway,' added Dyson, 'perhaps we'd prefer to take our chances here!''That is no

062 - Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet

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Transcript of 062 - Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet